Editions

"The Notorious" and "Rush" are both left off this edition of SN's pound-for-pound rankings. So who sits at the top?

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Written BySteven Muehlhausen and E. Spencer Kyte

After a one-month hiatus to hit the reset button and get some things squared away, the Sporting News MMA team of Steven Muehlhausen and E. Spencer Kyte are back with the latest edition of their pound-for-pound rankings and there have been some sweeping changes to the lineup.

The first and only man to simultaneously hold two UFC titles at the same time, Conor McGregor, has been dropped from the rankings due to inactivity. It’s been well over a year since “The Notorious” one stepped into the Octagon at UFC 205 and there are no concrete plans as of this writing for him to return, so he’s been put on the shelf for the time being.

Once he gets something booked, he’ll be back in the mix.

Georges St-Pierre has always been cast out of the collection of top pound-for-pound talents. Just a few months after the Montreal native returned to the cage and claimed the middleweight title, “GSP” has been factored out of consideration for this list because he vacated the belt to deal with medical issues. It doesn’t sound like he’s coming back any time soon.

Maybe it’s a partial negotiating ploy or completely false, but when his long-time coach is saying he doesn’t think we’ll see St-Pierre “for one or two years,” there really isn’t any reason to leave him on this list.

This is the Sporting News UFC Pound-for-Pound Rankings for February 2018.

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#10

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib is one of the more interesting guys on this list. He’s absolutely crushed pretty much everyone he’s ever faced, but injuries and inactivity have limited him over the last few years, meaning we’re still not 100-percent certain where he fits in the lightweight division and on a list like this.

Given his dominance, it’s difficult to keep him from being a part of this collective and blowing through Edson Barboza late last year certainly helped his standing, but the big test will come in a couple months when he faces Tony Ferguson —provided that star-crossed fight actually takes place.*Knocks on wood vigorously*

Provided everything goes according to Hoyle, this could be the year when we find out once and for all just how talented and dangerous Nurmagomedov really is. – Kyte

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#9

T.J. Dillashaw

Dillashaw proved beyonda shadow of a doubt he is the man to beat in the bantamweight division when he notched a second-round TKO over Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217 to become a two-time champion.

After the victory, Dillashaw stated he wasn’t interested in a rematch against Garbrandt, former champion Dominick Cruz or anyone else in the division. He is only interested in one fight and one fight only: flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

Dillashaw’s willing to drop down to 125 pounds but he said he will need 16 weeks to do it. But it feels like Dillashaw needs to defend the title against Cruz or a surging Jimmie Rivera before such a fight can take place. — Muehlhausen

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#8

Amanda Nunes

Given there is a great deal of talk about Nunes challenging Cris Cyborg for the women’s featherweight title later this year, this feels like a really good time to point out that the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion holds victories over both Germaine de Randamie and Julia Budd, who are currently listed as the No. 2 and No. 3 featherweights in the world according to Fight Matrix.

Nunes has won six straight and seems to have reached her full potential as a fighter. She doesn’t get enough credit for what she’s accomplished and a matchup with Cyborg might be the only way the Brazilian standout gets recognized and promoted as an elite championship talent. – Kyte

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#7

Tony Ferguson

A very valid case is out there that “El Cucuy” is the best lightweight in the world. He’s the interimlightweight champion, won 10 consecutive fights,sevenby stoppage.

The only thing stopping Ferguson breaking into the upper echelon of the sport is a signature win. Hopefully that happens at UFC 223 when for the fourth time he is scheduled to clash against Nurmagomedov. If the fight happens — let’s say our prayers daily —and Ferguson can get the job done, he should be considered the best 155-pound fighter in the world and the title of undisputed champion.— Muehlhausen

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#6

Stipe Miocic

“The Baddest Man on the Planet” did what few people expected him to do at UFC 220, grounding and grinding out Francis Ngannou to retain the UFC heavyweight title. In the process, the proud Ohio native established a new record for most consecutive successful title defenses in the division.

I’ve said it a few times in the past, but I’ll say it again here: Miocic has become everything we hoped Cain Velasquez would be before injuries derailed his career. He can knock dudes out, drown them with pressure or wrestle them into oblivion; he’s multi-faceted and boasts excellent fundamentals, none of which is sexy, but it certainly makes him hard to beat. – Kyte

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#5

Cris Cyborg

CrGoing into her title defense at UFC 219, Holly Holm had been deemed as the toughest foe to date for Cyborg.

Holm proved that to be the case,going five full rounds with Cyborg and at times, connecting on some hard shots. When the fight was even after two rounds, Cyborg showed she could make the proper adjustments and walked out with the women’s featherweight title.

Cyborg had been wanting to make her next title defense against someone in the 145-pound division, even though Nunes wanted a crack at her fellow Brazilian.

Now the fight appears to coming to fruition. Dana White said it’s the bout to make and Cyborg’s relented. She’s even went as far to say she’s agreed to battle Nunes at UFC 226 in July (the fight isn’t official just yet) in what be the biggest women's fight in 2018.— Muehlhausen

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#4

Tyron Woodley

While most everyone else hated on Woodley’s performance against Demian Maia, I was over here cheering like mad.

To me it was the equivalent of a pitcher tossing a shutout against an elite lineup or a top-tier defender shutting down one of the league’s leading scorers —it may not be what you wanted, but you can’t say it’s not impressive.

Woodley is targeting a spring or summer return following shoulder surgery and has a few interesting options available to him and while he gets criticized for stumping for big fights, you have to give “The Chosen One” credit: he’s fought the No. 1 contender every time he’s put his belt on the line and there aren’t a lot of champions lately who can say the same. —Kyte

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#3

Max Holloway

Looking at what Holloway has done is staggering, but also shows how great our top-two fighters are.

Holloway cemented himself as the king of the featherweights back at UFC 218 when he once again defeated Jose Aldo by third-round TKO. With the victory, Holloway ran his winning streak to 12, with nine of those coming via stoppage.

A lot of fighters would to take a break and relax but Holloway isn’t one of those champions. He will go up against his original UFC 218 opponent, Frankie Edgar. If Holloway can get through the former lightweight champion, thenhe would have cleared out the division.

Give Holloway credit: he wants to be the best of all time and is willing to fight anyone and everyone to get to that level. — Muehlhausen

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#2

Daniel Cormier

Cormier proved that Volkan Oezdemir wasn’t on his level at UFC 220, finishing the surging title challenger in the second round to validate his standing as the current UFC light heavyweight champion.

I know, I know.Jon Jones, blah blah blah.But “Bones” is inactive once again and all Cormier has done in his chief rival’s absence is beat the best fighters in the division in impressive fashion. I hate playing the “if you take those two fights off his record” game because everyone looks better with a couple losses removed from their resume, but Cormier is undefeated otherwise, including a 13-0 mark at heavyweight.

Oh yeah — he also has a chance to claim the heavyweight title later this year, so there is that, too. —Kyte

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#1

Demetrious Johnson

This is a no-brainer. Johnson’s unbeaten in 14 fights (halfby stoppage) and owns the consecutive title defense record.

But what’s next for the best fighter on the planet — and perhaps the greatest of all time?

It appeared a mega-fight with T.J. Dillashaw was on the horizon as Johnson and the UFC want the fight made. A nagging shoulder injury forced "Mighty Mouse" to go under the knife in mid-January.

While the surgery puts that fight on hold, it is one which is still likely to occur and could further set Johnson apart from the pack. — Muehlhausen